Hanging with Violetta

This has been the week of play dates with Violetta. Violetta goes to the Playhouse with Jack and Sadie and has become a close friend. We started with a trip to the Griffith Observatory on Sunday. We met up with two other kids from the Playhouse, Gabriel and Lucy, and their mother at the Observatory. It was a little crazy with five kids and three adults, but the kids had a great time, communed with Einstein, and were enthralled by the planetarium show. On Tuesday the ratio only got worse, but we had a wonderful afternoon with Jack, Sadie, Violetta and Violetta's older sister Gloria. Despite four kids and one adult on Tuesday we had a very nice dinner at the food trucks. Today I took the three kids to the library and then we had dinner and a dance party. There is nothing like three kids, dressed the nines dancing their hearts on the coffee table to the Pennsylvania Polka!

I heart public transportation

It is a beautiful day today. So what better way to head Downtown than by bus? We went on little adventure and took a local bus downtown to check out one of our favorite bookstores. The kids could not have been more excited to ride the bus. We had a good ride and then got off at the foot of Angel's Flight, the shortest railway in the world. For 25 cents we were able to ride to the top of Bunker Hill and back down again in a rail car from 1901. From Angel's Flight it was just a 4 block walk to the Last Bookstore. Trains, buses, and books - a perfect morning.

On the Campaign Trail

Jack and Sadie having been doing a great job of helping Luis Lopez get elected to the CA state assembly. A few weeks ago we walked the neighborhood to collect signatures to get his name on the ballot. Today we celebrated his campaign kick-0ff. We learned today, that if nothing else they know how to steal the show!

Creepy Crawlies

We spent Saturday morning at a playdate for El Rio, a new charter school in the neighborhood. When they were not learning about Waldorf play the kids spent the morning pretending to be spiders.

In Their Element

It can be hard taking photos of the kids these days. They like to pick out their own clothes. They avoid having their hair brushed like the plague. Smiling for the camera is more like trying to scare a predator off. J. did manage to capture these photos of the kids in their natural environments. Here is Sadie at 7:30am this morning. This is her version of dressing for school.

This is a photo of Jack on a hike to Switzer Falls this weekend. He could not be happier than when he is swinging a giant stick around. He could have done this for hours.

Art

While I know that there is a bigger audience for photos of the kids, I feel compelled to also share the wonderful art that the kids have been making. Last week when I picked up the kids they were soooo excited to show me the "flying boats" they had made at school. It turns out that one of the moms at the Playhouse who runs an art studio for kids will now be volunteering once a week to lead an art class with the kids. The flying boat sculptures were their first project. Sadie's boat is the middle photo and Jack's is the very phallic-looking sculpture on the bottom. Who knew that you could do so much with cocktail umbrellas, cardboard, clay, straws and strips of cloth? These sculptures are now proudly displayed on our mantel.

Sadie has also just this week started drawing people. The pencil drawing at the top is a family. She is very excited to now be able to draw letters, numbers and people. Tonight we drew a picture together of the four of us. Her addition was to draw Jack holding his dad's and my hands. It was very cute.

Franklin Canyon

I've been solo with the kids this weekend while J. works. As a result I don't have any pics from this weekend, but J. did get some great shots when he took the kids on a nature walk last weekend in Franklin Canyon. J. joked that these could be the beginning of their band shots.